Many industrial processes employ organic solvents. The organic solvents may include hydrocarbon solvents such as aliphatic and aromatic solvents. The industrial processes may include those that are sensitive to impurities. Inasmuch as may processes employ bulk or technical-grade solvents, the solvent may be a source for a contaminant. Also, many industrial processes reuse or recycle solvents thereby providing another source of impurity to the industrial process.
For example, many polymers are produced by polymerization methods that employ transition metal-containing catalyst. These catalysts are often designed to provide very specific polymeric configurations and characteristics. While these catalyst systems are advantageous in this regard, their ability to perform as desired can be deleteriously impacted by impurities.
While it is common in the art, particularly in the manufacture of olefinic polymerization, to purify solvents using filtration techniques such as carbon adsorption or silica or alumina adsorption, the same has not proven to be entirely satisfactory for some polymerization systems, especially on the industrial scale.